IN HARVESTING ANTS. 235 



(corresponding to the umbrella handle) foremost, with the result 

 that the hairs, of course, stick out against the sides of the entrance 

 to the nest and prevent the seed from going in. The ants then 

 pull and pull at the end, and after many long struggles succeed by 

 force in making the hairs give way and the seed go in ; but this 

 takes several ants a long time, and meanwhile other ants are 

 bringing fresh supplies, which have to wait outside till their turn 

 comes to be treated in the same way. 



By way of experiment I took one of the seeds out and placed 

 it in the opening, with the pointed end downwards. The ants at 

 once pushed it out again, and, after turning it round, began pulling 

 it in "handle" end foremost, as usual. I repeated the experiment, 

 pushing the achene in a little further, but the ants still thought 

 they knew better than I how the thing ought to be done, for they 

 again took it out, inverted it, and, of course, had the same trouble 

 as before. At last I pushed a third achene right down into the 

 aperture, this time so far that the hairs standing up would make it 

 difficult to get it out again. This time, however, the ants seemed 

 to think it not worth while to turn the achene, so they pulled it in 

 as it was, with the pappus hairs pointing upwards, and, of course, 

 got it in much quicker than the others. But the ants did not 

 profit by this experience; on the contrary, they again began to 

 pull some more achenes in with the broad end foremost and the 

 hairs pointing downwards. 



What is still more astonishing is that having got the achenes 

 inside, the ants the?i take off the hairs and throw them out again 

 into a rubbish heap or " midden " near the entrance of the nest. 

 In this way they have the double trouble of taking the achenes in, 

 encumbered by the hairs, and of taking the hairs back again. 

 Why do not they nip off the hairs before taking them inside ? 

 This would be by far the easiest course to pursue, and would save 

 the trouble caused by the hairs getting in the way. 



I think the following may be an explanation of why the ants 

 do not do this. The avenues of plane trees at Mentone are com- 

 paratively modern, while colonies of Alta barbara have been wont 

 to store various seeds in their nests for countless ages, long before 

 this coast was overrun by the Saracens, and inhabited by barbarous 

 races. If we also remember the comparatively small number of 



